Some kids will read anything you put in front of them. Others need exactly the right book before reading starts to feel like something they actually want to do.

Fantasy is a good place to start because there are so many different ways into it. Magical schools, dragons, ghosts, witches, mythology, secret worlds, quests—there’s usually something that will catch a kid’s attention.

The tricky part is finding books that are exciting without accidentally wandering into something much more adult than you expected.

The books here range from middle-grade fantasy that works well for older tweens to darker YA fantasy for younger teens. Some are funny and light. Some are spooky. Some kick off long series that can keep a reader busy for quite a while.

So rather than ranking them, I grouped them by what kind of story your reader might be in the mood for.

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Magic, Wizards & Hidden Worlds

If magic is the main draw, start here. Some of these characters discover strange abilities. Others find out there’s an entire magical world they never knew existed.

A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher

Fourteen-year-old Mona has magic, but it isn’t exactly the dramatic lightning-bolt kind.

Her magic works on bread.

Her familiar is a sourdough starter, she works in her aunt’s bakery, and she can make gingerbread men dance. Things get considerably less cozy when Mona finds a dead body in the bakery and realizes someone is targeting magical people.

This is a good one for a kid who likes their fantasy funny but still wants some real danger. And honestly, bread magic is hard to beat.

Good fit for: unusual magic, funny fantasy, mysteries, and reluctant heroes.

Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger

Sophie has always known she is different. She has skipped grades, struggles to connect with the people around her, and has one fairly major secret: she can read minds.

Then she meets Fitz and discovers that she isn’t the only Telepath.

That’s when Sophie finds out her life is a lot stranger than she realized, including some pretty big questions about who she is and why she was living among humans in the first place.

This is a good pick for a kid who loves getting attached to a world and staying there for a long time, because there are plenty of books in the series to keep them busy.

Good fit for: hidden worlds, magical abilities, friendship, mysteries, and long series.

A Tale of Magic… by Chris Colfer

Before there was the Land of Stories, there was a world where magic was forbidden and people were expected to stay in the roles society had already chosen for them.

Brystal Evergreen discovers that she has magical abilities and ends up at an academy where young magic users are being taught to use their gifts.

You get the magical-school part, but there’s also a bigger story underneath it about people being judged for abilities they didn’t choose.

Good fit for: magical schools, friendship, secret powers, and readers who like longer fantasy adventures.

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

Every year, the people of the Protectorate leave a baby in the forest as an offering to a witch.

The problem is, they’ve gotten the witch completely wrong.

Xan is actually kind, and every year she rescues the abandoned child and finds it a new home. But one year she accidentally feeds a baby moonlight instead of starlight, filling the child with extraordinary magic.

That child, Luna, becomes the center of a story involving witches, dragons, monsters, family, and a lot of secrets.

It feels like a fairy tale, but there’s a lot more going on than the usual witch-in-the-woods story.

Good fit for: witches, fairy-tale fantasy, found family, dragons, and magical coming-of-age stories.

Big Adventures & Epic Quests

Some readers want less magical classroom and more running-for-your-life adventure. These are the books with training, battles, strange creatures, big journeys, and plenty of trouble along the way.

The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan

Will has grown up believing the Rangers are mysterious, almost magical figures who hide in the shadows.

Then he is chosen to become one.

As an apprentice, he discovers that the Rangers aren’t using magic. They are highly trained scouts and protectors who rely on stealth, weapons, observation, and a lot of skill.

Meanwhile, an old enemy is preparing to attack the kingdom.

It’s a good step into bigger fantasy adventures without handing a younger reader an 800-page adult fantasy novel and hoping for the best.

Good fit for: quests, training stories, archery, battles, and long adventure series.

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

Kendra and Seth think they’re staying with their grandparents.

They definitely do not expect to discover that their grandfather is the caretaker of a secret sanctuary for magical creatures.

Fablehaven is home to fairies, satyrs, witches, trolls, imps, and all kinds of creatures that are kept hidden from the normal world. There are rules meant to keep everything under control.

Naturally, those rules do not stay unbroken.

This works especially well for kids who want a whole magical world to keep coming back to instead of a one-and-done adventure.

Good fit for: magical creatures, secret places, sibling adventures, and series readers.

Skandar and the Unicorn Thief by A.F. Steadman

These are not cute sparkly unicorns.

In Skandar’s world, unicorns are dangerous creatures that have to be bonded with and trained by riders.

Thirteen-year-old Skandar wants more than anything to become one of those riders, but getting there turns out to be a lot more complicated than he expected. There are secrets, elemental magic, dangerous creatures, and a threat that is much bigger than one kid trying to pass a test.

If the magical-school idea sounds good but wands don’t, dangerous unicorns might do the trick.

Good fit for: magical creatures, competitions, training, action, and big fantasy worlds.

The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester

Piper McCloud can fly.

That is exciting right up until you remember that unusual abilities tend to attract unusual attention.

Piper eventually ends up at a special school for kids with extraordinary talents, where things are not necessarily as wonderful as they first appear.

There are superpowers, strange kids, secrets, and enough going wrong behind the scenes that it never feels too little-kid-ish.

Good fit for: superpowers, unusual schools, friendship, and kids who like fantasy with a little science-fiction flavor.

Mythology Fans

If saying “Greek gods” or “Norse monsters” gets a faster reaction than saying “fantasy,” try these.

Nobody’s Princess by Esther Friesner

Before Helen became Helen of Troy, she was a girl who wanted a lot more from life than simply being beautiful and eventually getting married.

This version of Helen is stubborn, curious, adventurous, and determined to learn skills girls around her aren’t necessarily expected to have.

It mixes mythology and history while letting Helen be a lot more than the beautiful woman everybody fights over later.

Good fit for: Greek mythology, historical fantasy, strong heroines, and retellings.

Loki’s Wolves by K.L. Armstrong and M.A. Marr

Matt Thorsen knows Norse mythology because in his family it isn’t really mythology.

He is a descendant of Thor.

When Ragnarok starts looking less like an old story and more like something that might actually happen, Matt and other descendants of the Norse gods have to take the places their ancestors once held.

That means monsters, prophecies, dangerous journeys, and kids realizing that being descended from a god comes with a few responsibilities nobody bothered to explain beforehand.

Good fit for: Norse mythology, quests, monsters, prophecies, and ensemble adventures.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson is the obvious pick here, but obvious doesn’t mean wrong.

Percy discovers that the Greek gods are real, monsters are real, and his own family history is much more complicated than he ever imagined.

From there, he ends up at Camp Half-Blood and gets pulled into a quest involving a stolen lightning bolt, angry gods, monsters, and a possible war on Olympus.

It’s funny, fast-moving, and one of the easiest books on this list to hand to someone who thinks mythology sounds boring.

Good fit for: Greek mythology, humor, quests, monsters, and long series.

Supernatural & Spooky Fantasy

Not every fantasy reader wants dragons and enchanted forests.

Some want ghosts, zombies, secret societies, creepy houses, and supernatural things that probably should have stayed hidden.

These get darker than the books above, so this is the section where I’d pay a little more attention to what your reader actually enjoys being scared by.

If ghosts are the part they like best, I also have a list of scary but fun horror books for middle schoolers.

Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Fourteen-year-old Nick Gautier already has enough problems before he discovers that the world around him is filled with supernatural creatures.

Then his classmates start turning into zombies.

Nick gets pulled into a world involving Dark-Hunters, demons, vampires, werewolves, and plenty of things trying to kill him while he is still expected to somehow survive high school.

It has a lot more attitude and paranormal action than traditional sword-and-castle fantasy.

Good fit for: paranormal fantasy, zombies, sarcastic characters, and readers ready for something a little darker.

The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong

Chloe Saunders starts seeing ghosts.

That would be enough of a problem by itself, but after a frightening incident she is sent to Lyle House, a group home for teens where she quickly begins to suspect that neither the house nor the other residents are quite what they seem.

This one is noticeably darker and creepier than most of the books on this list.

I’d save it for older tweens or younger teens who already enjoy paranormal stories and genuinely like being creeped out.

Good fit for: ghosts, paranormal mysteries, secret experiments, and darker YA fantasy.

The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud

For decades, England has been dealing with a serious ghost problem.

Kids and teenagers are especially important because they can sense the spirits adults can’t, which has led to the creation of agencies devoted to dealing with hauntings.

Lucy Carlyle joins Lockwood & Co., a tiny agency run by young people without an adult supervisor hovering over everything they do.

Then one investigation goes very badly.

This one is actually creepy, but it’s also funny and has enough mystery and ghost hunting to keep it from turning into straight horror.

Good fit for: ghosts, haunted houses, mysteries, supernatural investigations, and readers who like scary books.

Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston

Amari’s brother has disappeared, and she refuses to believe the explanation everyone else has accepted.

Then she discovers that he was involved with a secret supernatural organization she never knew existed.

Amari gets the chance to enter that world herself, where she has to deal with magical abilities, strange creatures, dangerous secrets, and people who have already decided what kind of person she must be.

The magic is fun, but the missing-brother mystery is what gives the story something bigger to chase.

Good fit for: secret magical worlds, mysteries, competitions, supernatural creatures, and determined heroines.

Witches, Strange Magic & Something Different

These don’t fit quite as neatly into one fantasy box, which is part of what makes them fun.

Witchlings by Claribel A. Ortega

Seven Salazar is excited for the ceremony that will place her into a permanent coven.

Things do not go according to plan.

When Seven ends up without the coven she expected, she makes a choice that binds her together with two other young witches. Now they have to complete an impossible task or deal with some pretty serious magical consequences.

You get witches, monsters, friendship, and three kids who definitely did not plan on being stuck together.

Good fit for: witches, friendship, magical communities, and readers who like funny fantasy with heart.

The Star-Spun Web by Sinéad O’Hart

Tess lives in an orphanage and has grown up surrounded by mysteries about where she came from.

She also has a very unusual pet tarantula.

When a strange man appears and offers to take her away, Tess gets pulled into a story involving alternate worlds, strange technology, secret experiments, and a mystery tied to her own past.

This one sits somewhere between fantasy and science fiction, so it’s a good pick for a kid who likes their magic a little weird.

Good fit for: alternate worlds, science-fantasy, mysteries, and unusual heroines.

Which Fantasy Book Should They Try First?

If they’re newer to fantasy, I’d start with Percy Jackson, Keeper of the Lost Cities, or Fablehaven. All three are easy to get into, and if the first book works, there’s plenty more waiting for them.

For a reader who likes funny or unusual magic, try A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking.

For mythology, go with Loki’s Wolves, Nobody’s Princess, or Percy Jackson.

If they want something spooky, The Screaming Staircase is my first stop, while The Summoning is better saved for a reader who wants something darker.

If the main requirement is magical creatures, go straight to Skandar and the Unicorn Thief or Fablehaven.

These Work for Reading Challenges Too

A lot of these can also fill common reading-challenge prompts, which is handy when you’re staring at one square and have no idea what to read for it.

Depending on the challenge, you’ve got books featuring:

• a witch or wizard
• dragons or magical creatures
• Greek mythology
• Norse mythology
• a ghost
• a magical school
• a young hero
• a series starter
• an award-winning book
• an alternate world
• a book with magic in the title or story

That makes this a good list to come back to when someone gets stuck trying to fill one oddly specific square on a reading challenge.

Final Thoughts

There really isn’t one kind of fantasy reader at this age.

One kid wants dragons and sword fights. Another wants witches. Someone else wants ghosts, mythology, secret magical schools, or a girl whose greatest magical weapon happens to be bread.

The trick is figuring out which part of fantasy gets them interested.

Once they find it, you may have the opposite problem and start wondering where all the bookshelf space went.

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